Lottery a go-go

It's rock! No, it's art! It rocks! But it's art!
Ah. Must be the Good/Bad Art Collective up to its shenanigans again. Who better to yank the area's music contingent out of complacency than the Denton tricksters-cum-artists, who for the third time in as many years will stage their(in)famous Rock Lottery. In a nutshell, it's an event all about music innovation stretched to its edges by local rock players (ahem--stars) who normally won't risk that kind of stuff. For one day only, they'll have to think outside the box (read: compose and perform without the safety of their normal band configurations). Which means, in tandem, their faithful following and curious art fans must listen to the just-written songs in a sort of outside the box way. Happily, some of the most interesting music this side of Texoma has sprung from the loins of the Rock Lottery, not to mention some of the area's most fascinating side projects.

Good/Bad has, even while working closely with local rock bands since the collective's inception six years ago, denounced the standard-issue live rock shows as "tedious" (here, here). To solve that little problem, Good/Bad's benefit director Chris Weber devised a highly effective shake-up solution to the problem. The gist: Twenty-five hand-picked musicians will meet in Denton on the morning of Sunday, December 6, to be teamed up in random lottery style into five new "bands"; each group then trots off to separate locations to rehearse for the remainder of the day. That evening, the bands descend on Rubber Gloves in Denton to perform--for a waiting audience--their mini-sets of newly created music. It's a 12-hour spree of chaos and success, Good/Bad style; it even keeps to the collective's "one day only" event tradition.

Even if you're not a big art fan, the event's name-wielding power makes it difficult for even the most general local music follower to ignore. The Rock Lottery has attracted some big-name and fascinating talent in the past (e.g., Sam McCall, Jon Cunningham, Will Johnson, John Freeman), and the roster is always a decent cross-section of current best-and-brightest.

Some of this year's participants are Spyche (Glasspack, formerly of Darlington), Brian Lane (Slobberbone), Rob Avsharian (The Commercials), Mark Hughes (Baboon), Joe Butcher (UFOFU), and even Clark Voegler (the Toadies) and Peter Schmidt--two ex-members of Funland. (Place your bets on their getting paired up. "This next song is called 'Satellite.' Yeah, we just made it up today, see.") Also on board, more of Denton's favorite sons and graduates: Jack Royal (Maxine's Radiator), Kari Luna (The Gospel Swingers), Dirk Michener (assorted brilliant little four-track projects), and Keith Killorean (Budapest One).

Should be, as always, quite the festive spectacle, and the proceeds--a mere $6 cover charge per head--go toward keeping G/BAC alive and well and producing some of the greatest damn art around. Those meticulous and ambitious installations don't come cheap, you know. Plus, they've promised to feed the bands some dinner.

--Christina Rees

The Good/Bad Art Collective's Rock Lottery 3 happens Sunday, December 6, at 9 p.m. at Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios, 311 E. Sycamore, Denton. Call (940) 387-7781. Admission is $6.